Malta has just been reconfirmed as leader in the delivery and performance of eGovernment services amongst 33 countries (28 European Union member states together with Iceland, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey). The results were published in the eGovernment Benchmark Report 2015 issued earlier today by the European Commission.
The benchmarking study carried out by Capgemini, IDC, Sogeti and the Politecnico di Milano measures four top-level indicators as well as compares the performance of eGovernment services between the participating countries. As in last year, Malta has again attained an exceptional result by leading in all the top-level indicators and ranking first in the overall results.
The first indicator is User Centricity, where the report measures the online ‘availability’ and ‘usability’ of eGovernment services. Online availability assesses the existence of an electronic channel for public services, whilst online usability measures the overall user experience by assessing usability (such as support, help and feedback), ease and speed of use. Malta has ranked first in both measurements and also in the overall indicator, with a score of 95%, 22 percentage points more than the EU average.
The second indicator, Transparency, examines the extent to which governments are transparent about their own responsibilities and performance, the service delivery process, and the personal data involved. The EU average score in this indicator is 51%; Malta is clearly ahead of all other participating countries with a score of 97%.
The third indicator, Cross Border Mobility, assesses governments’ ability to provide businesses and citizens seamless access to online public services when they are away from their home country. Once again, Malta leads the rankings with an overall score of 88%, 37.5 percentage points more than the EU average.
Malta is also leading in the fourth indicator Key Enablers which measures the availability of a number of technical elements which are deemed important for the delivery of eGovernment services. Malta achieved an overall score of 97%, 47 percentage points more than the EU average.
Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth José Herrera said that such positive results continue to reaffirm the Government’s strong commitment towards the harnessing of ICT to produce innovative, sustainable and secure eGovernment services. “The Digital Malta Strategy which was launched by Government last year, sets out a path how ICT can make a significant contribution towards sustainable economic and productivity growth as well as citizen empowerment” added Hon Herrera.
Tony Sultana, Executive Chairman of the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA), the agency responsible for eGovernment in Malta, welcomed these excellent results. Mr Sultana stated that MITA is already addressing a number of recommendations highlighted by the European Commission, in its reports, on aspects that go beyond the benchmarking exercise. MITA has launched a number of initiatives aimed at further increasing the accessibility of public service websites. “In line with the Digital Malta Strategy, MITA is carrying out an extensive overhaul of the Government websites to improve their adaptability on mobile devices, thus catering for the ever increasing number of users who are accessing the internet from their mobile devices.”
Mr Sultana also noted that the European Commission has called for increased efforts in communications to raise awareness about the availability of online services. “Earlier this year, MITA has embarked on an EU funded project with the aim of increasing the uptake of eGovernment services. As part of this project a research amongst citizens was conducted on their use of eGovernment services, training was given to public officials and an awareness campaign on a number of online public services is currently underway,” concluded Mr Sultana.
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Quelle/Source: The Malta Independent Online, 23.06.2015
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